9. Early Days *Sneak Peek*

*Sorry it's just gonna have to be a sneak peek to hold out 'til after tuesday, I have a criminal justice exam which I am NOT looking forward to :(  ALSO I think it's safe to say I am NEVER having kids after writing that birth scene for the previous chapter -.- I was tired just after freaking typing lmao anyway thx for commenting guys :)*

It was almost 6am and Drake was still sat watching Nicki sleep. The ambulance had taken them to a different hospital to facilitate the baby's needs, the NICU at this hospital was a lot more efficient than the one where Drake worked. He was glad Nicki was sleeping through the ordeal of trying to get the baby breathing again, the whole time he felt as though his heart was in his throat but they managed to bring her back. Hearing someone else enter the room he turned around to see his Mother walking towards him with two coffees.

"Thought you might need this?" She handed it to him as he never once took his eyes off of a completely worn out Nicki as she slept heavily.

"Thanks."

"How are they both?" She took a seat next to him.

"The first few days are gon' be touch 'n go with the baby but she's ok for now, Nicki's fine. Just exhausted."

"You did really good Aubrey." She shifted slightly and he could tell there was something else she wanted to say so he waited for her to spit it out. "I just want you to know I'm sorry for having doubted your relationship. I've never seen you like this with any of your other girlfriends, it's really nice to see you happy." She gently rubbed his forearm as he turned to face her.

"Thanks Mom, that means a lot. I am happy. Be even happier once I can have them both home with me."

"How long do they have to stay here?"

"Well, Nicki can be discharged in a couple days but the baby's gonna be here for a while." Looking down he swirled the coffee in his cup as he thought.

"Roughly how long is a while?"

"Usually it's until their due date which would mean around six to eight weeks." He heard her exhale sadly.

"Well, for what it's worth I'm gonna help out as much as I can, y'know? With Nicki and the baby. I know it isn't easy and I not havin' her own Mother around won't help much." He looked back at her gratefully and was about to speak when they heard bed sheets ruffling. Nicki was awake.

"I'll give you two some space." She smiled at them both before leaving, shutting the door behind her. They'd managed to get her in a private room to let her have some privacy. She looked drained, understandably as she tried to sit herself up.

"Here." Jumping up he let her use his arm as a lever to sit up as he re-adjusted her pillows. "How you feelin'?" He pulled the chair closer to her bed and sat down again.

"Tired." Suddenly remembering what had happened she looked around the room frantically before his soothing voice stopped her.

"She's in the NICU, and she's fine." He saw her body relax back into the pillows slowly. "You wanna go see her?"

"Can I?"

"Of course you can, you're her Mom." She half smiled, revealing one of her dimples before he helped her out of the bed extremely slowly, still aware that she was probably tender.

She held on tightly to his hand as he led her down the hall, not caring if people saw. She had an excuse, it hurt like a bitch to walk unaided. They made their way there slowly for Nicki's sake before he keyed the code into the wall pad and they both sanitised their hands before entering. It was eerily quiet to Nicki as she remained holding on to Drake's hand, walking closely behind him.

"Here she is, baby Maraj." Tugging her hand he encouraged her to come to his side so she could see better but she was glued to the spot. "Nicki what's wrong?"

"She's so small, are you sure she's okay?" He could see the tears welling up in her eyes before he pulled her gently to him.

"I promise, she's fine. Havin' you here with her will help her to stay healthy. Come on." He pulled away and wiped her tears whilst leading her over to where her baby was.

"What's wrong with her eyes?" She was still holding on to him and slightly behind him at the same time, her voice was quiet and shaky as she looked over her tiny body. She had tubes and wires all over and two cotton patches covering her eyes, secured by the little hat she had on.

"Nothin's wrong with her eyes, they're just a lil' sensitive to the light 'cause she was so early." He was glad that nobody else was in the room with them so he could talk to her comfortably and tell her everything she wanted to know. Although he'd wiped away her tears they were still rolling down her face, she didn't look like she was crying though. They were just kind of trickling out continuously as she kept her eyes fixed on the baby.

"Can we go now?" His heart felt like it had dropped into his stomach as he watched her quickly smudge her tears away and turn to walk out again.

"Woah, wait. Don't you wanna hold her?"

"No. I might hurt her."

"Nicki, you won't hurt her. Here, you can sit down and I'll pass her to you, is that better?" He rushed to grab a chair as she just watched him. "There, you sit on this and I'll get her out." She apprehensively did as she was told whilst he re-arranged the wires and tubes so they wouldn't get in the way. She looked even smaller in his arms. "Open your gown a lil' bit, you have to have a lot of skin-to-skin contact with her 'cause she's so young." She could feel her tears as each and every one of them dropped off of her face and onto the bit of skin showing on her chest. Weirdly, as soon as he placed the baby in her arms she relaxed almost immediately. Moving around the chair Drake stood to the side and just behind as he watched over them both, kissing Nicki on her head as she and her baby bonded.

To Be Continued...

Unnamed Baby:

*Sorry It's just a sneak peek but at least you all know the baby is okay ^_^ The name will be in the next chapter :)) Any suggestions? I'll do the hat thing again since I have no life lmao! I'm gonna do a sneak peek for one of my Onikafaree blogs tomorrow to be equal, then I really mean it! No more posts until after the 24th lmao! Thx to all who commented on chapter 8 ^_^ Hope this was ok!*